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The beginning of the new year is always loaded with a lot of well-intentioned resolutions. One that is often repeated especially in these dates is to keep a diet, either to lose weight or to start being healthier. Although Spain has always been a country with good eating habits, this has not stopped us from falling into the dietary trap miracle and ultra-processed foods.
If you need help finding a type of diet that keeps you healthy and perfect for you, you’re in luck. Like every year, US News & World Report has published a list of the best diets for 2021 based on different premises, such as its health benefit, ease of tracking or popularity.
This traditional classification has been published for years in the first days of January and has the approval of the prestigious Harvard University. The same diet has been in the highest position for four years: the Mediterranean. A diet full of fruits, vegetables, legumes and fish, which we Spaniards do not always strictly follow.
Nutrition podium
Then file sharing the second place, are the DASH diet and the flexion diet. DASH diet bases its premises try to lower your blood pressure through diet, with a thorough control of salt consumption and advocating the consumption of skimmed or low-fat dairy products, in addition to reducing or even eliminating the consumption of foods with added sugars and the consumption of red meat. It also suggests reducing the consumption of saturated fats and trans fats, in addition to increasing the intake of potassium, magnesium, calcium, protein and fiber.
flexitarian dietin turn, it aims to reduce meat in exchange for increasing weekly consumption of fruits and vegetables. There are different “levels” of the flexural diet, which has come to be called “part-time vegetarianism.” But according to studies, the higher the consumption of plant foods and the less animal foods, the better.
According to experts, this podium would not be surprising because the three diets have similarities– They are easy to follow (create sticky) and focus on what foods to include, rather than what to restrict. The next diets in the ranking were the Weight Watchers (WW) diet, on the third place, the MIND diet, volumetric, Mayo Clinic and TLC on the fourth place, and the Ornish diet, vegetarian and Nordic, sharing the last place.
Commercial diets
This year’s study included what are known as “commercial diets” and, among them, highlighted the WW diet or “dotted diet” and the Mayo Clinic diet as the top two. It also highlights the look Noom diet, which, according to its creators, would not be so much a diet as a lifestyle focused on changes in nutritional habits.
In fact, it’s based on an app called Noom, where you can find nutritional information and weekly challenges, tools to record progress and record both meals and exercise and body weight progression, a virtual training equipment and biometric monitoring. All payments, of course.
Experts point out psychological component associated with the Noom diet, which stands out compared to other food models, as a particularly relevant component in times of isolation, such as the current pandemic.
In turn, diets like Whole 30 (focused on whole foods) or well-known ketogenic diet (based on fats), well known and popular, continues to cause some reluctance, because adherence to them is more complicated. Both occupy the final positions, being 35 and 37 of the 39 diets analyzed.
Diet in 2021, a difficult goal
Finally, the experts responsible for compiling the ranking agree that it would not be a good option to think about “weight loss” or “diet” in the next year 2021, but simply to eat better: thinking about “diet” is often a negative thought, and suggests that last year 2020 was already saturated with negative events between barriers, social distancing and other security measures.
Therefore, they advise to follow the guidelines of the three best rated diets: increase your intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains only in order to improve health. With a few simple changes, you can lose weight on a secondary basis, but not as a primary goal. These are sustainable, flexible and customizable food models; and even allow for cultural and religious variations, if necessary.
Health, they point out, would be the ultimate goal. If other objectives are achieved collateral, all the better.